Are the DHA requirements of preterm infants higher than previously thought?

Abstract

Infants born preterm are at a high risk of developmental delay compared with term born infants. In part, this may be because preterm infants are denied the rich nutrient supply of a full-term pregnancy to accumulate docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the brain. In the largest trial of its kind, we showed that preterm infants fed breast milk and formula containing 3-4 times the DHA found in standard milks, performed better in visual and mental tests. However, not all babies responded with improved cognitive development as boys hardly benefited at all. Because DHA-enriched milk raised, but did not saturate the baby’s erythrocytes with DHA, we feel that higher doses of DHA might be required to benefit all infants.